Falling Inventory Levels Keep Downward Pressure on Tanker Market

The weak earnings environment has obstinately continued in the spot market this week, as low cargo counts have persisted. VLCC liftings out of their primary loading zone in the Arabian Gulf have been on a decidedly negative growth trend for the past year, and actually contracted in three of the last four months. The current stubbornness of rates is consistent with the combination of these reduced liftings and headwinds associated with steady fleet growth over the same period of time. Download here